In the Beginning
Holy Innocents' only become a parish church in 1971. Until then it was a Chapel (left) - a small place of worship whose legal status consisted in its being attached to the orphanages.
In 1907 a Miss Ellis gave a sum of money for it to be built (she repeated this generosity for other churches within the Southwark Archdiocese), and work began in August that year. It was situated between the two orphanages containing the latter-day 'Holy Innocents', and stood majestically on the hill.
The Chapel's foundation stone was laid on 10 August 1908, the building completed in 1909, and opened on St. Patrick's Day. The church bell was donated by the past pupils of St Anne's, and the tabernacle and large candlesticks by the boys of St Joseph's.
When the Chapel was consecrated it initially served the orphanages and seven Catholic families who lived in Orpington and the neighbouring villages. Only about a dozen people from outside the orphanage community attended Sunday Mass. However, with continued population growth in Orpington, the congregation increased.
Transport from outlying villages was always difficult and a search for possible alternative sites was undertaken. Eventually in 1963 a new Church named St Michael and All Angels was built at Locksbottom as the daughter church of Holy Innocents'. Later it became a Parish Church in its own right.
History of Holy Innocents' Church 2
History of Holy Innocents' Church 3